The present invention relates to a vehicle seat assembly having an easy entry mechanism that slides the seat assembly forward to increase the opening to the area behind the seat assembly to ease entry into the rear seat area and, in particular, to an easy entry mechanism with a memory to relatch the seat in its original adjusted position after it is returned from the forward easy entry position.
In many two door motor vehicles the front seats are equipped with an easy entry mechanism to increase the access opening to the rear seat area of the vehicle. The easy entry mechanism operates to automatically release the seat latch when the upright seat back is tilted forward to provide access to the rear seat. Once the seat has been unlatched, the seat is moved forward on its track by a spring or other device to a forward position. When the seat back is returned to its upright position and the seat is moved rearward, the seat will again relatch to lock the seat in position. Many easy entry mechanisms however, relatch the seat in its forwardmost latched position rather than relatching the seat in the adjusted position it was in at the time the seat back was moved forward. The seat occupant is then required to readjust the seat position following each actuation of the easy entry mechanism.
To avoid the need for continuous readjustment of the seat position, seats have been developed with a "memory" of the adjusted position prior to easy entry operation. Several of the memory easy entry systems include an elongated shield moveable along the lower rail of the seat adjuster during manual seat adjustment. The shield locks onto the lower rail during easy entry operation and prohibits engagement of the seat latch with the rail to prevent latching of the seat. After easy entry operation, when the seat latch has been moved rearward past the shield, the latch is allowed to reengage.
Shield type memory devices have numerous disadvantages, the greatest of these being the increased forces required to move the seat forward and rearward during easy entry operation. The latch lever is forced against the shield, which is covering the latch engagement means on the rail. The latch lever thus slides against the shield as the seat is moved forward and rearward until the seat latch reaches the end of the shield and is allowed to reengage with the rail. The sliding of the seat latch against the shield greatly increases the friction between the seat and the rail requiring increased force to move the seat in easy entry operation once it is unlatched. Furthermore, the elongated shield may protrude beyond the edge of the lower rail and can become an obstruction to the occupant's feet and to the manual release handle used by the occupant in adjusting the seat.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an easy entry seat adjuster with full memory which eliminates the sliding contact of the seat latch with a shield to reduce the effort needed to move the seat in easy entry operation.
It is an advantage of the present invention that by eliminating the sliding contact between the latch and a shield device, wear of the seat adjuster components is reduced prolonging the useful life of the adjuster.
The seat adjuster of the present invention includes a stationary lower rail mounted to the vehicle floor and a moveable upper rail slidable thereon. Attached to the lower rail is a rack section consisting of a plurality of teeth extending longitudinally of the lower rail. A latch is pivotally mounted to the upper sliding rail and includes a plurality of apertures for receiving the rack teeth. In the latched position, the rack teeth extend through the apertures of the latch to interlock the latch and the rack to hold the seat in position.
A cam lever, also pivotally mounted to the upper rail, is rotated in response to forward rotation of the seat back in easy entry operation. Rotation of the cam lever causes the latch to disengage from the lower rail rack teeth enabling the seat to slide forward. Upon return of the seat back to its normal position and rearward sliding of the seat, a stationary member selectively positioned on the lower rail contacts the cam lever when the seat has returned to its original position. The cam lever is returned to its original position permitting reengagement of the latch to look the seat in its original position.
During easy entry operation, the stationary member remains in place on the rack. When the seat is moved during manual adjustment, the stationary member is moved to a new position along with the seat.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.